


I'll Be There For You

by CrypticGabriel



Series: No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allurance mentioned, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Coffee Shops, Flashbacks, Friends AU, Friends to Lovers, Hunay Mentioned, M/M, Roommates, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 20:32:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15372768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrypticGabriel/pseuds/CrypticGabriel
Summary: Keith has spent most of his young adult life existing and making sure his finances were stable in his dull salary job. His friendships that he'd made over the years since moving to New York are the only sources to what little social life that he has.However, after an old friend moves into town and needs a place to stay, Keith letting him back into his life may just be the best thing he's ever done.





	I'll Be There For You

**Author's Note:**

> This AU has been sitting in my brain for almost a year. My writing is kind of meh, but I wanted to give birth to the idea while I culminate more ideas! This is so loosely based on Friends that you can argue that it's not really a Friends AU, but the show is what sparked the idea so I can't resist paying homage! I'm really excited for this one, and I hope to fully complete this fic. I hope you enjoy!

_Keith groans in frustration and slams_ his packet down on the table. “Why do I even have to do summer reading?”

His dad heard him from the kitchen, and he walks over with a shrug. “Sounds like it’s the start of a slow transition to making school all year round.”

He shudders at that. “The horror.” He looks out the window, noticing that in front of the next house a familiar SUV was being loaded up with luggage. He frowns at seeing this and starts to get up from his seat. “Hey, Dad? What’s going on at Shiro’s house?”

“Shiro told you that he had to leave for boot camp soon,” he says in confusion. “He’s leaving today.”

“Today?!” He hurries to the door, his mind going a mile a minute. “He didn’t tell me he was going that soon!”

His dad hurries to follow him. “Well, Keith, he has a lot to do. You can’t expect him to be on top of everything.”

“But I don’t want him to leave.” He hurries out the door.

“Keith, wait!”

“Shiro?!” Keith runs over to the other yard just as the car is loaded up. Shiro’s standing with his parents, saying goodbye and hugging them close. It’s like he knows it’s going to be a long before he ever sees them again. “Shiro!”

Out of the goodness of his heart, Shiro looks over at Keith at hearing his call. He’s always been outrageously good to him. He’s helped him stand up for himself. On his dad’s busiest days at work, he spent a lot of his time at his house. He helped with his homework, he played video games with him. Hell, he spent a lot of his free time that he could’ve spent at parties or with people his own age instead of… well, _him._

“Hey, Keith.” His smile is so sweet.

“Shiro, you didn’t tell me you were leaving _today._ I could’ve gotten you something! Or I could’ve written you a letter, or _something.”_ He was trying to be strong for him, not wanting to put on any stress for him by crying right before he has to leave.

“I’ll be back to visit again in three months,” he promises. “When I’m back, we’ll be able to have a better chance to say goodbye before I get deployed. But you’re right. I should’ve told you.”

“What am I going to do without you?” he frowned pitifully. “No one really understands me.”

Shiro couldn’t help but laugh. “Keith, you’re fifteen. That’s normal.”

Keith sighs. “Don’t go…”

“I _have_ to. Besides, this isn’t goodbye forever,” he assures him. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

He’s surprised himself by not crying as much as he thought he would. And when Shiro opens his arms up he hurries in to give him a tight hug. His eyes are tightly squeezed shut to prevent tears from falling. “Please be safe.”

“I will.” Thankfully, Shiro realizes how sad Keith is that he has to leave, and he looks at him fondly. “I’m never too far away. And I’ll never stop believing in you. And stay in school.”

“I’ll try…” Keith manages a smile. “Thanks, Shiro.”

“No need to thank me. Oh. And here…” He reaches into the passenger seat of his car through the open window. His hand moves so fast that he doesn’t see what he grabs. Before Keith knows it, Shiro puts it in his hand. “Do you think you can hold onto this for me? There’s no real use for it while I’m at boot camp.”

Keith quickly looks down at what’s in his palm, and his eyes widen. It’s Shiro’s class ring!

“I-I…” He glances up in shock. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Keith.” He smiles. “I’ll see you again real soon.”

“Yeah.” He quickly nods and finally lets him get into his car. “Bye, Shiro.”

He walks away from the driveway and watches Shiro leave. He wants to make sure that he doesn’t disappoint him, and he wants to show Shiro that he can do better in his life with many accomplishments that he could talk about when giving him back his ring.

\--

 _Ten years have passed, and Keith_ still has Shiro’s class ring.

He’s looking right down at it at his desk, staying secluded in his cubicle. There were a few times where Shiro did come back home, but he was so busy. And every time they did see each other, the thought of having his ring on him barely crossed his mind.

He still really misses him.

“Keith? Earth to Keith.”

Startled, Keith quickly looks over to the source of the voice. His coworker Regris has his arms crossed while he’s looking at him.

“Glad you could join us,” he teases. “It’s after five. You’re all set?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He didn’t even realize how late it was. He gets up from his desk and puts the class ring in his pocket. “Well, I’ll see you on Monday?”

“I sure hope so,” he chuckles. “What was that you were holding in your hand?”

“It’s just… something from my past. That’s all,” he shrugs.

They walk out of the building together. After having so many nostalgic feelings coming at him all at once this evening, he really can use a pick-me-up. He already has the next few hours planned out in his mind, but he’s just so weary. He’s going through the motions after a long week.

“We’ll be chasing after those sales next week,” Regris offers.

“Yeah, we will. We gotta make sure that Kolivan doesn’t get on our asses about them.” He smiles and waves for a cab while Regris goes the other way to get to the train. “Good night, Regris.”

“Good night!” he calls.

Keith manages to get a cab and practically falls in. “Altean Roast on Third, please.” He has to fix his suit while the driver looks back at him from the rearview mirror. Keith’s already set to pay him the fare, since he has it memorized by heart from this stop.

The Altean Roast is a staple of his daily life. The coffee shop is a couple of blocks away from his apartment, and inside there is always so warm and smells great. If his younger self knew that most of his social life would be spent at one of these, he’d be royally confused, but Keith can’t think of a better place to be in, even if he had another option. Plus the owner, Coran, is a pretty nice, easy-going guy. He never minds how often they visit, so long as they order coffee. They always do. And of course, right inside there, his friends are waiting for him.

There’s Hunk. He works as a chef at a four-star restaurant, and everyone loves his meals. Pidge is currently working on her dissertation in quantum physics, and she comes here very often to destress. Lance is a character all his own. He’s frequently taking small acting jobs around the city, and he… well, there are his good days where he can tolerate sitting on the same couch with him. And then there are days that he can’t stand looking at his face. All in all, he’s an okay friend.

The newer friends of the group are Shay and Allura. Shay’s a therapist, and she met the group by chance when coming in for coffee. And after that, they just couldn’t let her go. After all, she seems to have a thing for Hunk. Unfortunately, his two roommates might make it a little difficult for them to get any alone time. And lastly, there’s Allura. She’s Coran’s niece, and she just recently moved into the city and shares an apartment with Shay. Allura is currently working for Coran, but they all know she’s going to get involved in a great career once she’s all settled here.

“Hey, Keith!” they all call out upon seeing him.

He gives a tired wave and plops right down on the chair closest to the coffee table. “Hey, guys. Did amateur night start yet?”

“Not yet,” Pidge muses. She’s nose deep in her research, barely batting an eye. “You’ll know when it starts as soon as you here the caterwauling.”

“They’re not always _that_ terrible, Pidge,” Hunk insists. “I’m kinda glad I’m off tonight. I’m curious.”

Allura walks over with a coffee pot, ready to give them refills. “However, if it’s anything like the stand-up guy who using me as a punchline, I hope Coran will let me escort them out.”

“Now, Allura, you can’t crush someone’s hopes and dreams like that,” Shay scolds light-heartedly.

Lance rolls his eyes. “I dunno, if their dream goal is to perform an amateur night, they really need to get their priorities straight.”

“Easy for you to say, Lance,” Keith teases. “Every night for you is amateur night.”

“Uncalled for!” he scoffs.

Pidge fixes her glasses and looks up, stifling a snort. “So Keith, how’s the roommate search coming along?”

“Not as well as I thought,” he frowns. “There’s a lot of weirdos out there.”

“It’s best to try and find someone that’s at least in the same circle as you. I dunno how I’d feel if it were anyone else other than Pidge and Lance staying in the same apartment as me.” Hunk perks up. “Oh, hey! It’s starting!”

The first act to come up to the mic is a woman reciting her own poetry. Keith is intrigued, even with a few of his friends being disinterested and going off on their own tangents. While listening to her, he notices that the next act is hiding somewhere nearby. He can’t really see their face from here, but he can tell that they have a guitar. This is either going to be very good or very bad.

“Up next is a part-time rising star,” Coran prefaces with a teasing grin. “He just moved to New York, so let’s give him a warm welcome. This is the one, the only, the Black Lion: Shiro.”

Keith feels a sudden spark at hearing that name. _Shiro?_ There’s no way. There’s just no way. This must be a major coincidence. There are _billions_ of people in this world, and there have to be more than one person in this world with the name Shiro. _Thousands,_ even. In this city alone, maybe?

“Keith?”

He hears Shay’s voice and perks up. “Huh? I-I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” she presses. “We kinda lost you for a second there.”

He nods, despite his throat feeling incredibly dry. “Okay… Let’s watch this guy, then.” As soon as he turns his head, he can feel his voice slowly die in the back of his throat.

The man has a robotic, prosthetic arm. He’s using it rather skillfully to play his guitar, and when he looks up he notices that his scarred face looks hauntingly familiar. Even with the now silver hair and a distant look in his eyes, he absolutely knows that it’s him.

_Shiro._

And when he opens his mouth, he still has the same angelic voice that he’s had since the last time he heard him. It doesn’t really help that he never really talked to his friends about his past friendship, besides some basic things from his childhood and mentioning him in passing. It’s an effort to keep the past from coming back to haunt him.

_“Three soldiers marching,_

_Marching on the land._

_Knights of shining armor,_

_Kiss under moonlight and sand.”_

Well, he has a beautiful voice, but he doesn’t really excel in the songwriting department. He never really did. But Keith can listen to him all day.

There’s a pause among the small crowd, mostly made up of other amateur night participants, but Keith’s already plastered smile is starting to grow. After ten years, he has the opportunity to see Shiro for longer than a visit that only would last a couple hours.

A tiny applause starts, more as encouragement for him participating. “Thank—” There’s some feedback from the microphone that makes him wince, and he tries again. “Thank you.” He walks away and gets ready to put his guitar away in his case.

What if he ups and leaves again? Keith can’t lose him.

“Shiro?” He gets up from his chair. “…Takashi Shirogane?”

Shiro turns his head. There’s a moment of confusion, but Keith watches his face light up. “…Keith?”

“Shiro!” He hurries to stand beside him. “Hey! It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s great to see you too,” Shiro grins. He sounds tired, but his voice is so warm. “I’ve only been here for a day, and I surprisingly feel a lot more comfortable than I thought I would.”

“Well, that’s good,” he insists. “Oh! Come meet my friends.” He hurries him over to the coffee table. “Guys, this is Shiro. We were friends since we were kids.”

“Oh, we know,” Allura chuckles. “You talk about him all the time.”

“I do not!” he pouts. “Anyways. Shiro, this is Pidge, that’s Lance, and there’s Hunk. And this is Shay and Allura.”

“Hello, what about me?”

“Oh,” Keith gasped. “Shiro, this is Coran. He owns Altean Roast.”

“We’ve met,” he assured him. Shiro shakes hands with each friend respectively. He smiles at the five of them. “Nice to meet the rest of you guys. Did you like my little song?”

“You need someone to proof your lyrics—ow!” Lance groans when Pidge elbows him in the side.

“I think they’re cute,” Shay smiles. “And your voice is great.”

“Thank you so much,” he hums. “Excuse me, I’m just a little tired after my flight. I just figured coming here and checking this place out would be a nice end to my busy day.”

“Of course,” she insists. “You’ve come to the right place. We’re all pretty laid back over here.”

Hunk nods in agreement. “So, are you living in New York?”

“I’m supposed to be,” he says bashfully. “I’ve been carrying my luggage with me all day, ‘cause I didn’t plan this far ahead after taking my new job.”

“Your luggage too?” Keith's eyes widen. “Unacceptable. You can bunk with me till you find a place.”

He diverts his eyes. “Oh, I don’t want to intrude—”

“No, I insist. It’s the least I can do,” he smiles. “After all, I just turned my spare room into a guest room.”

“You have _two bedrooms?”_ he gasps.

“Keith makes the most money out of all of us.” Hunk starts getting ready to go. “He works for ‘the Man.’”

He bashfully looks down. He prefers to be more modest about his career and his finances. “Anyways, would you like to come back to my place? It’s the least I can do.”

“Well, okay. Yes,” he smiles. “Thank you, Keith.”

“No need to thank me.” Keith gets up and more than willingly helps him with his luggage. “We’re gonna head off so I can help Shiro settle in. So, same time as usual tomorrow?”

“Always,” he hears Coran insist as he waves them off. He makes sure that Shiro is following behind him.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he smiles. “It really is such a small world, isn’t it?”

“Almost too small,” Shiro teases. He holds his guitar case with his prosthetic arm. Keith can clearly see how strong it really is, and he’s amazed by the technology. He seems to notice that Keith keeps looking at it. “It’s a work in progress. I’ve been personally developing it and upgrading it. That’s actually why I’m in New York.”

“Really?” They both stop at a crosswalk, waiting for their right of way. “How… did that happen?”

“It was during the war,” he sighs. “As you can imagine, it’s been rough trying to adjust. I really could’ve used a change in pace, so that’s part of why I decided to come here. And I like doing lectures and working with this advanced technology and developing it alongside several different programmers. It’s fascinating.”

He listens very attentively. “Wow… My job’s not nearly as exciting. I sit in a cubicle and look over accounts all day.”

“Well hey, you’re focusing on your future. That’s very important. It doesn’t help to have a hobby, though.”

“What would I even do with my free time? I mean, I’ve been with my friends a lot, but we mostly socialize. That’s not exactly a hobby.”

“Well no, but it’s a start,” Shiro assures him. “Maybe I can help. Soon I’ll be all settled here, and maybe we can make some hobbies together. Like old times?”

His face darkens just a bit. He doesn’t want to give himself away too much. “Yeah. That sounds like a great idea.” He notices that they’re at his apartment building, and he stares up at where he can point out the floor he lives on. “Well, there it is. My home.”

“Can’t wait to get inside.” Shiro smiles as they head in together. The major problem with this building is that there is only one working elevator. And even then, it’s a hit or miss. Fortunately, today it wants to cooperate with Keith and Shiro. Maybe it’s the new, inexperienced vibes of Shiro’s suburbian brain that brought the elevator gods to his good side.

And Keith tells him exactly that. “Usually this elevator is a clunky jerk. Maybe it likes you.”

“Keith, it’s an _elevator,”_ he chuckles. “It’s not alive.” Just as he says that, they can hear the cables creaking even from in the inside.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” he huffs, and as the bell dings for the eighth floor, Keith leads him down the hall. He helps him get settled in. “Here you have it. I’ll show you the guest room.”

His apartment is very plain. He hasn’t had much interest in giving it a theme, besides the basic artwork framed up that’s been here since long before he moved in. He has an older TV, and even with the walls looking so bland, at least he has decent tastes in furniture. Keith smiles and puts the luggage he’s been holding down right near the closet in the guest room.

“It’s fully furnished, and the bed’s made. And right over there’s the bathroom. Here’s my tiny kitchen. It’s alright, though. I mostly order takeout. Too tired to cook most nights.”

Shiro sets his guitar down on the bed. “it’s cozy in here. Thank you,” he smiles.

“Of course. I’ll be able to get you some newspapers with apartment listings tomorrow. If you need any help, just let me know.”

“I will,” he insists. “Really. You didn’t have to do all this. So… thank you.”

Keith stands by the door, giving him a faint smile. “You’re welcome. What’s mine is yours. Just make sure you let me know if anything’s running empty. Milk, soap, battery juice… You name it.”

“Oh, definitely.” He doesn’t unpack. All he does it set the guitar down in the closet and rests his suitcases right near the dressers. It’s like Shiro has an idea that his stay will only be temporary. Which… he isn’t wrong, but Keith was hoping that he’d make himself feel a little more at home. After all, at one point they were best friends. Well, at least he liked to think they were. They did have a decently sized age gap, and Shiro most likely had his own friends his own age and in his own circles. Keith just wishes that they didn’t drift so far apart to the point where Shiro feels like he shouldn’t stay here.

Instead of voicing his concerns, he decides to leave him be and help him get settled. “Okay. Good night, Shiro.”

“Good night…”

Keith leaves him alone and fishes through his pockets. He purses his lips at feeling the class ring still sitting in one of them. He can’t bring himself to go back in there and return it to them. He should do it tomorrow.

“Dammit.” Keith groans and attempts to destress by turning into a pile of mush on top of his bed. And as he releases some tired sighs held in from throughout the day, he takes some comfort knowing that he has been reunited with his old friend and hopes to strengthen that friendship again.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://tiff-the-little-wanderer.tumblr.com)   
>  [sheith blog](http://coming-home-to-you.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](http://twitter.com/wandering_tiff)


End file.
